Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT Cell Chief and West Bengal observer, Amit Malviya, criticized the former Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal for an alleged liquor excise scam. Malviya claimed that the Excise department under the previous government changed policies to extort money from liquor bottlers. The funds allegedly made their way to the Trinamool Congress and its General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Quoting a media report, Malviya highlighted that the state’s liquor policy was modified in 2017, reportedly to allow the state to control liquor distribution. The altered excise policy aimed to compel private wholesalers to pay substantial levies, amounting to thousands of crores.
According to a confidential report from the Excise department, the policy changes were justified as measures to prevent cartelization, ensure transparency, provide fair liquor access across the state, and enhance consumer choice. The report, which has been presented to West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal and briefed to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, alleges that the distributor system was manipulated to divert funds to the Trinamool Congress under the guise of government revenue.
